The present invention relates to a TV(television) voice control system, and more particularly to a television voice control system which adjusts voices collected by a plurality of microphones with correspondence to television scenes.
Nowadays, various sports games are relayed over a television network and popular among many people. They can watch the sports games through television scenes relayed by the television network without going to sports stadiums in which the sports games are held. This enables them to watch the sports games with the feeling of being at a live performance although they are at home, and so on.
Thus, it becomes possible to readily watch the sports game, and the like by pictures on a television screen. However, the pictures on the television screen are sometimes incongruous with voices coming from television speakers. Such incongruity between the pictures and the voices is caused to occur on the ground that pictures taken by television cameras are not correlated with voices collected by microphones provided separately from the television cameras. Namely, as the television cameras are operated by professional camera crews, an object is selected and taken a picture thereof from far or near according to circumstances of the game. On the contrary, a microphone is fixed at a predetermined position only to collect voices coming into an area where the voices are capable of being inputted to the microphone. As a result, microphone operators must keep up with changes of camerawork to select a necessary one of the microphones.
Some proposals have been made, as prior arts, to collate the television camera and the microphone with each other.
An example is exemplified, as a first prior art, in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei 06-351015, namely 351015/1994. An image pick up apparatus for television conference system disclosed therein as the first prior art detects directions information in which a voice is generated based on a voice information produced by a speaker. In view of the direction information, a condition picking up an image is controlled by the image pick up apparatus. Thereby, an image pick up direction, a picture angle, and a voice collecting direction can be automatically varied at real-time. In addition, cost is reduced in the image pick up apparatus accordingly.
Another example is exemplified, as a second prior art, in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei 08-205278, namely 205278/1996. An automatic mixing apparatus disclosed therein as the second prior art effectively utilizes irregularly generated detection signals such as, sensor detection signals, and the like, as timing signals for mixing control to mix a plurality of voice signals automatically. Accordingly, mixing with high quality can be done without fail for effective voices generated in such a sports game as progressed at a high speed. Further, the mixing of effective voices matched with television scenes can be effectively carried out.
Still another example is exemplified, as a third prior art, in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei 08-223551, namely 223551/1996. A television conference system disclosed therein as the third prior art has a detection unit for detecting a direction of the highest sensitivity. In the television conference system, a microphone is turned to the direction of the highest sensitivity detected by the detection unit while a video camera follows the direction to pick up an image of a conferee. Thereby, a speaker among conferees who speak alternately is traced one by one, then a voice and an image of the speaker are automatically inputted to the television conference system. As a result, by a fewer number of microphones and video cameras than the number of the conferees, a speaker who speaks unexpectedly is detected. A voice and an image of the detected speaker can be sent correctly.
However, in the above-mentioned first, second and third prior arts, it is not achieved that any voice can be selected from voices obtained through a microphone fixed at a predetermined position on the condition that an object to be taken picture thereof by a television camera is changed according to circumstances of the game.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a television voice control system, in which a desirable voice can be selected from voices obtained through a microphone fixed at a predetermined position, thereby capable of obtaining lively voice corresponding to a television scene provided by a television camera which moves to follow the change of the object to be taken picture thereof.
Other objects of the present invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a television voice control system comprising: a television camera for picking up an image on an image pick up condition so that said image be displayed as a scene on a screen; at least two microphones for collecting voices, respectively; and interlocking control means which adjust and controls said voices obtained through said at least two microphones by interlocking said image pick up condition of said television camera so that said voices be adapted to said scene.
The interlocking control means may further comprise: position calculating means for determining an image pick up position of said television camera by an input of an image information from said television camera; and microphone control means which select at least one microphone corresponding to said image pick up position from said at least two microphones in response to an image pick up position information from said position calculating means and which adjust and mix said voice obtained by the selected at least one microphone.
The television camera may further comprise: direction detecting means for detecting an image pick up direction; range detecting means for detecting an image pick up range; and distance detecting means for detecting an image pick up distance.
The position calculating means may further comprise camera location data for indicating location of said television camera; said position calculating means determining said image pick up position based on said camera location data.
The microphone control means may further comprise microphone location data for indicating location of each of said at least two microphones; said microphone control means determining said at least one microphone corresponding to said image pick up position based on said microphone location data.
The microphones may further comprise movable members, respectively, by which the respective microphone can be moved or rotated in upper or lower and right hand or left hand directions.